Ry and Skyler opened the screen door with hands full of tomatoes and emptied them on the table. I inquired where they found them, as I continued prepping dinner. In the garden they told me, as they asked if they could eat them. Surprised they found such a haul for the time of year, with February was drawing to a close, I assured them to go ahead. They popped the cherry tomatoes in their mouths and went on their way, as I continued cutting and dicing up dinner.
For the next few days, they did the same thing. Finally, I got curious at just how many tomatoes they found, so while Ricardo prepared lunch, I grabbed my boots and headed to the garden with them, this time holding the colander they asked to fill.
As we approached the garden the boys excitedly showed me where their stash had come from. I was amazed to find both of our cherry tomato bushes brimming with red, ripe tomatoes. Mid fall I had stopped tending the garden and let it go, giving it time to do its thing as we waited until spring to start again. With a lack of water this winter and drier days, the vines reflected it, dressed in shades of brown along with dry, crackly leaves. They lacked any signs of life, yet were full of ripe tomatoes.
I bent down to grab tomatoes that had fallen to the ground. Some has been squished by little toes that had been focused on picking the ones above. Others were buried inside the tomato cage. We have never had such an enormous amount of lush tomatoes at once, mostly due to the fact our kiddos love to eat them straight from the vine as they become ripe, which we never object. It was actually work to harvest them from the vine.
As I removed each tomato and watched the fun my boys had harvesting, it was a reminder of how something that looks completely dead, can still bring life. With Easter approaching, it brings me to the cross and what we now sweetly refer to as “Good Friday.” The day Jesus was resurrected.
The hopelessness and sorrow that his followers were feeling; the veil of the temple torn in two. The earth shaking and darkness over the earth. Hope seemed to be lost. Death seemed to have prevailed, surely nothing was to come out of it.
Yet, we have Easter: the resounding empty tomb and Jesus’ risen life; the way our life is freed from sin was birthed out of his death, the very thing that seemed to lack life.
God has a plan and has had one since the beginning, even when we cannot see and especially when we cannot simply understand it. I only can imagine the disbelief the disciples felt when they saw Jesus had died after witnessing the miracles and healings and teachings.
This is the place that many may be sitting now. Sitting in the unknown and disbelief of our society in the midst of the pandemic, unsure of the next moves as unemployment becomes a reality, stocks go down, children are out of school. It may seem dark and appear as if there is no hope.
But God has gone before us. He has made a way. He has promised to never leave or forsake us, even unto death in this life. I do not know the challenges you are facing or the tears that have cried or the worries that have made it hard to sleep at night but I do know we serve a God of the impossible. A God who makes a way where there is no way. A God who is faithful, even when we are faithless and doubtful and disobedient. He stays true to His word. Never changing.
Praying you would be able to see the work of God in glimpses and full color in the the days to come this month during shelter in place. Praying that you would see where there is life stemming from the places that look like nothing could ever grow from. Praying that you would know the God who is for you, who gave His son to give you eternal life.
Easter will come. Victory is ours. The battle is already won.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24